Notre Dame throws one away at Duke
DURHAM, N.C. — Three turnovers and a desperate attempt with the shot-clock winding down accounted for Notre Dame's final four possessions in a 50-47 women's basketball loss to Duke Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Irish, who dropped their fourth straight game in the Atlantic Coast Conference, are 6-12 and 1-5 in the league. Duke is 9-8 and 3-3. The win snapped Duke's 15-game losing streak to the Irish, the last win coming Nov. 22, 1997.
“I thought we lost that game entirely on our own — the turnovers were just so costly down the stretch. We couldn’t even get shots,” Irish head coach Muffet McGraw said. “Really disappointing we couldn’t get into our plays. We've got to work harder and be smarter in pressure situations.”
The Irish were missing Anaya Peoples — averaging 12.6 points and a team-high 8.1 rebounds — who was out with a shoulder injury.
Both teams struggled offensively with the Irish committing 26 turnovers and Duke 25, and the shooting numbers from both sides were hardly pretty — ND was 18-for-64 for 28.1% and Duke was 20-55 for 36.4%, along with just 6-for-17 from the free throw line for 35.3%.
The Irish were just 5-for-22 from 3-point range (22.7%) and the Blue Devils were 4-for-17 (23.5%). It was a particularly tough night for ND's Destinee Walker and Katlyn Gilbert, each averaging 14 points a game, but going a combined 3-for-25.
Notre Dame, which had 15 steals in the game, led 46-43 with a little over a minute to go when Duke was able to come back with a couple of breakaway layups and free throws. Going ahead on a steal and layup by Mikayla Boykin with 32.6 seconds remaining gave Duke its first lead since a 2-0 start.
The Irish led 14-4 after the first quarter and led by as many as 13 in the second. But the finish couldn't have gone much worse for the Irish who were outscored 17-7 in the quarter, including yielding 11 fast-break points. Haley Gorecki helped bring the Devils back in the fourth quarter, scoring eight consecutive points from 8:23 to 6:58.
Mikayla Vaughn had 18 points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes to lead the Irish. Sam Brunelle added 16.
Haley Gorecki and Leaonna Odom each had 13 points to pace Duke and Mikayla Boykin had 10.
Notre Dame hosts Miami on Sunday at 1 p.m.
NOTRE DAME (47): Sam Brunelle 6-20 0-0 16, Mikayla Vaughn 7-11 4-5 18, Katlyn Gilbert 1-12 0-0 2, Marta Sniezek 1-4 0-0 2, Destinee Walker 2-13 2-2 6, Danielle Cosgrove 1-3 0-0 3, Kaitlin Cole 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS 18-64 6-7 47
DUKE (50): Leaonna Odom 6-13 1-3 13, Onome Akinbode-James 1-3 1-2 3, Jade Williams 0-3 2-4 2, Haley Gorecki 5-12 0-2 13, Kyra Lambert 1-3 0-0 2, Miela Goodchild 2-9 2-4 7, Azana Baines 0-3 0-2 0, Mikayla Boykin 5-9, 0-0 10, Jaida Patrick 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20-55 6-17 50.
Notre Dame;14;29;40;47
Duke;4;20;33;50
3-point: Notre Dame 5-22 (Brunelle 4-11, Gilbert 0-1, Sniezek 0-2, Walker 0-7, Cosgrove 1-1). Duke 4-17 (Gorecki 3-6, Lambert 0-1, Goodchild 1-7, Bines 0-1, Boykin 0-2). Rebounds: Notre Dame 44 (Vaughn 11, Brunelle 8, Walker 7). Duke 40 (Gorecki 9). Turnovers: Notre Dame 26 (Brunelle 8, Sniezek 5). Duke 25 (Gorecki 6). Steals: Notre Dame 15 (Gilbert 6, Sniezek 4). Duke 13 (Boykin 4).
